1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to armrest attaching structures for attaching armrests to vehicle seats. More particularly, the present invention relates to armrest attaching structures for attaching armrests to seat backs of vehicle seats.
2. Description of Related Art
A vehicle seat having an armrest that is attached to a side portion of a seat back is already known. In the vehicle seat, the armrest is attached to a side frame element of a seat back frame via a bracket. In particular, the bracket is fixedly attached to the side frame element of the seat back frame by welding. The armrest is tiltably (rotatably) connected to the bracket via hinge connection. Such a vehicle seat is taught, for example, by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Number 2007-558.
However, in this structure, both of upper and lower portions of the bracket are welded to the side frame element of the seat back frame, so that the bracket is connected thereto. This means that the bracket is supported on the side frame element of the seat back frame at a relatively higher level. As a result, the armrest connected to the bracket is supported on the side frame element of the seat back frame at the relatively higher level. Therefore, when a rotational force (load) is applied to the bracket via the armrest, the force can be transmitted to the side frame element of the seat back frame at the relatively higher level. As a result, a large bending moment can be produced at a lower end portion of the side frame element of the seat back frame. The lower end portion is rotatably connected to a seat cushion frame of a seat cushion via a reclining mechanism. Thus, a large load can be applied to the side frame element of the seat back frame.